


In the Sea of Humiliation

by HeadcaseCraziness



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Armitage Hux is Not Nice, Armitage Hux-centric, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Introspection, Kylo Ren is Not Nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:34:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22427899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeadcaseCraziness/pseuds/HeadcaseCraziness
Summary: He vowed to never be in this position again.To never be so humiliated, so weak, to sink as low as begging... not again.Kylo Ren would pay for this: He would die. Failing that, he would never win...Not while Hux still breathed.(From The Last Jedi to The Rise of Skywalker - the evolution and end of General Armitage Hux)
Kudos: 9





	In the Sea of Humiliation

**Author's Note:**

> The character I mourned the most in the lastest film was Hux, especially after his 180 change to good-ish guy. He needed a better send off... He had loads of lore and it is not explored at all in the films.  
> So this is to finally end my mourning and say goodbye.  
> So long and farewell General Armitage Hux, you deserved better.  
> (And I will forever hunt for Hux lives fics)

**In the Sea of Humiliation**

Pain. Anger. Fear.  
Hatred.  
Humiliation.

A sea of emotion flooded his mind. Endless and cold against his thoughts, scrambling them until only one thing became clear... he was drowning in them.  
Choking!  
Both mentally and physically.

He scratched at this throat but the pressure didn’t relent. He spluttered and gasped, ungracefully falling to his knees and staring... Glaring at the monster that was doing this to him.  
Cruel eyes gazed back at him, wild and abandoned, focused just enough that they could kill him with a flick of their wrist.

“The Supreme Leader is dead.” The other hissed, lips twisting into an unholy smirk.

There was nothing he could do. He was weak and dishevelled before them, completely at their mercy.   
They would have laughed at him if they could, he was sure of it, they took pleasure in what they were doing. Drunk on the power trip.   
They could kill him...   
He knew this, Kylo Ren was nothing if not a predictable child with far too much power. Emotions fuelled his every move; it was why he had to hide behind his stupid mask for so long.  
His face was an open book.  
His face was filled with anguish and hatred. Ren was a predictor, ready and willing to kill.

There was no air left in lungs, his head was buzzing and vision blurred at the edges. He was sinking downwards, into a quiet, welcoming abyss.   
He had to do something soon, he didn’t have much longer. No time to formulate a proper plan nor think his words through. 

“Long live... the... Supreme Leader...” He uttered, voice hoarse and faint. It was a gamble. The other may not hear his words or even care at the plea behind them. The begging tone that reverberated in his thoughts... Please, let me live.  
It made him sick to the stomach and...  
It paid off.

With a snarl Kylo Ren released him, using the Force to throw him across the floor. He skidded on his back, landing unceremoniously in front of the ramp to the newly inherited Throne. The thing he carved but was not his own. It was Ren’s now. Out of his grasp once again.

He watched as the new Supreme Leader turned in a staggered motion, unevenly and quickly leaving him alone in the crumbling, smoking chamber.  
Rasping, curling in on himself like a child, fingers clutching at the new ring of bruises on his throat, he vowed to never be in this position again. 

To never be so humiliated, so weak, to sink as low as begging... not again.

Not ever!

Kylo Ren would pay for this: He would die. Failing that, he would never win... Not while Hux still breathed.  
He lay there for some time, listening to the crackling flames and the smoke filling his nose. Time crawled by and he didn’t know exactly how it was long before he gathered himself and his thoughts off the ground, dusting them off and leaving the smouldering Throne room behind him as if nothing had truly changed.

In reality, the storm was only just brewing, there was much worse on the horizon for him.

* * *

Rule under Supreme Leader Ren was unbearable.   
Everything that happened after Crait was just to test him, to push him to the edge, he was sure of it.  
It was bad enough that he had given the title of Allegiant General to someone else, Pryde of all people, the ruthless, old Officer’s ideals were archaic and near useless in the First Order. He was a part of the long-gone Empire... Not the newer First Order.

But there was more:

When Ren returned to the Capital ship, he would seek out where Hux was stationed and torment him, pushing him to do something he would regret. If it wasn’t silencing him in the middle of a meeting using the Force, it was questioning his loyalty, his heritage, his competence...

It was making sure Pryde got all the acknowledgement for his own tactical planning and strategies, it was the Knights of Ren terrorising the crew and deciding to disrupt him especially out of all the other Officers; it was Ren and others calling him out in front of every member of High Command and he just had to stand there and take it silently.  
He wanted nothing more than to interrupt Ren for a change and stab him over and over and over. To feel Kylo’s lifeblood run through his fingers, coat his gloves with sticky warmth.  
But that was not possible. Ren was expecting, hoping, he would do it... Just so he could cut him down without question.

He regretted that he never took his chance those months ago in the Throne room. None of this would have happened if Ren was out of the equation and Hux had just shot him, regardless of the consequences.  
Due to his stupid mistake, he had to be obedient now, keeping his thoughts guarded and pliant and he hated every second of it. 

He hated Kylo Ren, Enric Pryde and all the other Officers that started to turn on him... That saw him as weak as someone to push aside.   
He wasn’t weak. He wasn’t.

He would remove the Supreme Leader from the picture one way or another. Allegiant General Pryde would follow and everyone else whom had looked down upon him.   
He had done it before... His Father, Admiral Brooks and his lackeys. It was just a matter of planning.  
And he had already devised a plan and would action it soon enough.  
He just needed to play this part a little longer.

* * *

The Emperor’s voice boomed across the Galaxy and in that moment everything stopped. He’d been on the Bridge at the time, taking over from Pryde as the Allegiant General and his Minions were away. He watched as every member of the Bridge Crew paused... Frozen as old fears rose to the surface like a monster from the deep had finally revealed itself to swallow its prey whole. Everyone was silent for a long time, disbelief and worry danced across their faces as they turned to him as if he knew what to do in this situation. 

He did not. 

He ordered them back to work stating it was none of their concern, which was true... Yet, the claustrophobic tension that gripped the air didn’t leave the ship for days. Weeks later it still clawed at his insides, the gravelly, unearthly voice echoed in his mind, dragging him down into the suffocating depths of insanity. It was clear many of the crewmen felt the same, if the fearful looks mirrored on so many faces were anything to go by.

He was left reeling, remembering this Father’s words on the supposed dead Emperor, that although the Empire had prospered under Palpatine’s rule, no one could never trust or expect him to do anything in the Empire’s interest or the interests of its people. That he would destroy every planet and every person in the Galaxy if it achieved his always hidden goals.

Concerned, he questioned both Pryde and Ren about the Emperor’s sudden appearance, but was shrugged off with simple excuses of it wasn’t his business or place to know. Although, it was suspicious that neither of them seemed truly surprised by the development and it only made Hux feel all the worse, seething and frightened, he knew it was time to put his plan in action...

Before it was too late.

* * *

He complied as much data was he could on Ren’s secret missions and Allegiant General’s movements and communications. Planting a bug in Pryde’s personal communicator as well as the Supreme Leader’s personal TIE Silencer had been the best and most efficient way to track them. He could no longer track Ren in person since Ren knew he had been in the past. He also convinced a couple of loyal low rank Officers to listen in on Pryde’s conversations and follow his movements.

The more information that he collected the more troubled he became.

His first thoughts to assassinate Ren were stalled for a time as he gathered more and more equally confusing and dangerous intel. He knew if anyone found out what he was doing he would be punished. Spying on his own people, his own Commanders... The Supreme Leader.   
He would be executed.

Once he confirmed his fears he knew that he could do little within the First Order, his position had waned over the past months, the number of Officers loyal to him had diminished, deciding to follow the safer bets of the Allegiant General or his many lackeys. 

After one failed assassination attempt on the Supreme Leader, that investigators passed off as an accident, scrutiny turned on him once more. He couldn’t try again. 

There was nothing else he could do, he sent the data out, knowing it would find its way to the Resistance and to the Scavenger... And she would be the only one able to stop Ren and his plans. She had defeated him once before and hopefully, this time she would have no mercy.

Or rather, he hoped that would be the case.

* * *

Spy...

It was the word on everyone’s lips. 

There was a spy within the First Order.

Hux would have laughed if his every movement wasn’t being watched with a close scrutinising eye. He knew he was on the suspect list but had some comfort knowing that there was another sixteen high ranking Officers being treated as suspects as well.

He could pin his deeds on one of them. A young and less experienced individual, a newly promoted Major named Uno perhaps, they would be an easy target... But he was still gathering what data he could, he couldn’t plant any evidence on his scapegoat until he sent out another message as it would only make anything he planted suspicious.

He prepared his final message, including everything he found out: how Ren had found the legendary Planet Exogal, what he had heard from Pryde’s private calls with who he assumed was Palpatine’s cult members and the apparent Planet destroying Final Order Fleet that Hux happened to actually admire just a bit... They had downsized his Starkiller technology which was immensely impressive... 

And yet, a Fleet of Star Destroyers with that firepower was disconcerting. It was quite overkill indeed. 

He could only think of what the Galaxy would look like if Supreme Leader Ren got his hands on them. Half the Galaxy would disappear in one of his temper tantrums, if the undead Emperor didn’t do it first.

He couldn’t let them have it. Even if it went against everything he stood for... It could bring order to the Galaxy.

Could.

Just not with Kylo Ren as its figurehead.

He scanned over his prepared message, making sure to add the appropriate scrambling software and remove the traceable codes that indicated where it came from, when the unthinkable happened...

Alarms screeched overhead, and his communicator chimed.

There were intruders on the ship

And they were Resistance Fighters... Kriff!

He needed to deal with it immediately, before anyone else did.

* * *

A year ago this would have been a wonderful and victorious situation, something he would have taken great pleasure in:  
Executing Resistance Scum.

But he couldn’t, if Ren was to lose, the Resistance needed this ramble of members back.

They were faced away from him, hands shackled and in ragged clothes but he recognised them all, the famed Traitor FN-2187, the cocky X-Wing Pilot Commander Poe Dameron and well... The huge furry creature was a Wookie that the Smuggler Han Solo had been an acquaintance with... He had no idea why but it wasn’t relevant anyway.

The three Stormtroopers in the room had their Blaster Rifles levelled and ready for the order. Death by firing squad, if he had wanted them dead he would have picked something more brutal, more cruel. 

However, he didn’t want them dead. Not anymore. What a world he was in now...

He strode almost causally over to the closest Trooper, hand out and waiting for their Blaster. “Actually, I’d like to do this personally.”

The Trooper handed over their weapon with a nod and the others lowered theirs. He smirked as he saw FN-2187 flinch at his voice in recognition in the corner of his vision. 

He looked over the weapon, slick, white and black and... Dangerous. Pretty. He glanced up at the prisoners then at the Stormtroopers. 

His smirk fell as he took the plunge into new traitorous waters with a disheartened sigh.   
Three shots.  
Three people crumbled to the ground... Such a waste of resources.

FN-2187 and Dameron turned, eyes wide and confused, gaze flickering between the corpses still warm on the floor and smoking Blaster in his hands.

“I’m the Spy.” He said, unable to stop the trembling urgency in his voice. 

They all stared at him incredulously, like he had grown a second head but then again, the last time he’d met with the Traitor he had ordered Phasma to execute them. Regardless of their gaping expressions, he moved quickly grabbing the shackle keys and came over to unlock the cuffs on Dameron’s wrists. 

There was huff of laughter between the group and voices high and indignant spoke, he wasn’t listening. His mind far too focused on how he could pull this off without ending up dead or imprisoned and tortured.

Once all the prisoners cuffs were unlocked, he beckoned them to the doorway, after a quick examination of the corridor, it was empty and they all followed him, Dameron was slow with his injury and FN-2187 was cautious but they obeyed, stalking closely behind him. They jogged down a few hallways, avoiding cameras and Troopers until they stopped at the entrance to the hanger where their rust-bucket of a ship was waiting.

He used his personal code to open the door and the Wookie and Poe ran threw without a word. FN-2187 paused, a questioning look on his face. 

“Wait. Why are you helping us?” He asked. 

He didn’t have time for stupid questions, he pressed his communicator with the almost completed message into the traitor’s hand. His eyes were still confused, waiting for an answer.

“I don’t care if you win, I just need Kylo Ren to lose.” It was close enough, and satisfied the former Stormtroopers damned curiosity. 

“Oh.” He turned to leave.

“No. Shoot me in the arm.” He hissed, not really wanting it to happen but knowing it needed to.

They stopped, looking between the weapon in his hand and Hux. “Why?” 

Hux rolled his eyes. Were they that clueless? “Otherwise, they’ll know I’m the spy. Obviously!”

“Ah.” He said after a beat. He didn’t have time for this, neither did the Rebel, but it seemed they had forgotten all about it.

“Well?” He mentally prepared himself, hand ready to apply pressure to his arm as soon as the bolt struck him.

“Oh right.” He pointed the Blaster at Hux’s leg and fired. The kriffing bastard shot him in the leg!

White hot agony and burning, blazing nerves and he howled, collapsing to the floor in a heap and the former Stormtrooper, the traitorous FN-2187, disappeared.

* * *

He was nervous, he had thought over every point or hole that could be in his cover story, while it did portray himself in a weak and cowardly manner, which he loathed, he doubted the Allegiant General actually thought he was anything else.

He was meant to sound somewhat incompetent rather than treasonous. He had examined every angle. A demotion would probably be on the table, he might be sent to another ship... But not death...

He should not been seen as a traitor. 

And the Resistance Fighters would take out Ren... That’s all that needed to happen. He’d done his part. The rest was up to them.

He just need to debrief Pryde, convince him enough and he would be safe.   
He stood on the Bridge of the Steadfast, leaning heavily on the cane he had been provided with, damn FN-2187 for shooting him the leg.

The Allegiant General was staring out the window with an air of causal confidence and distaste, not even turning to look at him, as if he didn’t matter...   
He did matter.  
He would be the downfall of the Supreme Leader... In a way.

However, it was easier to relay his story this way. No icy, bored eyes drilling through him into his core. Pryde reminded him of his Father, and how much he despised that man. Though he hated the man in front of him as well but maybe just a bit less.

Pryde hummed, as if considering his tale and Hux thought he’d gotten away with the lie.

He never even noticed as the man drew his Blaster Pistol, turning with lips a thin line, eyes emotionless.

“Inform the Supreme Leader, we’ve found our Spy.” He called, loud and possibly amused, so everyone on the Bridge could hear, so they could witness the act.

Hux had no time to register his shock, no time to speak nor disagree, no time to dodge in the short few seconds between seeing the weapon in the Allegiant General’s hand and it being fired at him.

One single shot.  
One bolt of plasma.  
It hit square in the middle of his chest.

The force pushed him off his feet. He fell back, sliding to a stop on his side in the middle of the Bridge gangway... On display for everyone to see. 

Everything hurt. His insides twisted and throbbed. He felt blood soak through his uniform.

Pain.  
Anger, fear, hatred...

Humiliation!

He was in the same situation again! Less than a year later. Coiled on the floor, dying and humiliated once more.

But he would die this time. His injuries were greater, though they didn’t burn as much now as a cool numbness started to settle in his muscles, seeping deep into his veins.  
It would be a pitiful death.   
His legacy would be of treason, of failure, of dying in such a pathetic way.  
And he didn’t even get to see Ren fail.  
It was all so disappointing...  
It was all so unfair!

His mind swam against the cold metal of the floor, he could smell burnt flesh and fresh blood, his eyes betrayed him as tears filled them silently.

He would have shivered, sobbed, if he could control his body, but it was stiff, every inch of skin felt encased in unmoveable, cool durosteel. 

He was dying. He wanted to chuckle at the weakness... But he wasn’t scared anymore, as the fog settled in his mind, he was calm.

He was slipping under the waves now, where it was soothing and so very silent.

Finally, his heavy eyelids drifted closed, as his consciousness sunk into the inky depths, drowning in a sea of endless humiliation.  



End file.
